Tag: Syria

All change again in the Middle East

July 7, 2013 Andrew Bennett, Baghdad, Bishop Angaelos, Cairo, Canada, Copts, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood, Religious freedom, Saddam Hussein, Syria

Middle Eastern Christians are experiencing one of the most significant periods in their history, according to religious and political leaders meeting in London last week. Regime changes in Egypt and Iran, and sectarian violence in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, have presented an opportunity for the Christian minority to speak out, . . . Read More

Syrian priest calls for end of ‘folly’

June 26, 2013 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Civil War, Syria

A Syrian priest was killed on Sunday (June 23) in an attack on a convent by militants linked to the jihadi group, Jabhat al-Nusra, according to Fides. Another priest, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told the Catholic Herald that Ghassanieh, the village where Francois Murad died, “like other Christian villages, has been almost . . . Read More

Syriac church torched

June 19, 2013 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Deir Ezzor, Syria

A group with links to al-Qaeda set fire on June 19 to al-Wahdah Syriac church in Syria’s eastern city of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Arab News Agency is reporting. SANA, citing information from “an official source”, reported the responsible group is “an armed group affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra”. The United . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Kidnapped archbishops ‘in good health’

May 30, 2013 Syria Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi, Kidnapping, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, the Syrian archbishops kidnapped last month, are being held in a village near Aleppo and are in good health, according to Ibrahim’s nephew Jamil Diarbakerli. The archbishops’ driver Fathallah Kaboud was later killed, while Diarbakerli identified Fuad Eliya as the final victim of the hijacking. . . . Read More

Sabra now says he doesn’t know bishops’ whereabouts

May 24, 2013 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Boulos Yazigi, George Sabra, Greek Orthodox, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Refugees, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

The leader of the Syrian opposition coalition is backing away from previous reports that he is certain of the location and condition of two Syrian Orthodox bishops kidnapped April 22. George Sabra, president of the Syrian National Coalition, told World Watch Monitor on May 21 he is not informed of . . . Read More

‘Groping in the dark’

May 9, 2013 Syria Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi, George Sabra, Greek Orthodox, Kidnapping, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

That’s how Mgr. Jeanclement Jeanbart, the Greek-Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo, describes to Asia News the absence of any information about the current fate of Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, respective heads of the Syriac and Greek Orthodox Churches in Aleppo. They were kidnapped on April, and little information has emerged . . . Read More

The Camp

May 5, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Free Syrian Army, Refugees, Syria, Syriacs, Turkey

Earthwork at the site of a planned refugee camp for Syrian Christians at Midyat, Turkey. The Mor Abrohom Monastery is in the background, right.Saima Altunkaya for World Watch Monitor Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria live in camps just inside Turkey. So the April 10 . . . Read More

Zahle dispatch: Life among Syria’s Christian refugees

May 1, 2013 Syria Arab Spring, Hijab, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria

Lisa Pearce is deputy CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, which works with partners worldwide to support Christians who are under pressure for their faith. She traveled to Lebanon in April to meet with Syrian Christians who have fled the violence in their homeland. Here are some of her . . . Read More

Archbishop’s life ‘under threat’

April 29, 2013 Syria Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Kidnapping, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Kidnapped archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim is reported to be without access to prescribed medication vital for his health. The Syrian Orthodox archbishop for Aleppo, who was kidnapped alongside his Greek Orthodox counterpart Boulos Yazigi, takes regular medication for high blood pressure and diabetes. A spokesperson from the Greek Orthodox Church in . . . Read More

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